[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52136-52137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20287]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket Number FRA-2025-0588]
Notice of Petition for Waiver of Compliance
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This document provides the public notice that Long Island Rail
Road (LIRR) petitioned FRA for relief from certain regulations
concerning recording devices on locomotives.
DATES: FRA must receive comments on the petition by December 19, 2025.
FRA will consider comments received after that date to the extent
practicable.
ADDRESSES:
Comments: Comments related to this docket may be submitted by going
to https://www.regulations.gov and following the online instructions
for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number. All comments received will be posted without change to
https://www.regulations.gov; this includes any personal information.
Please see the Privacy Act heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document for Privacy Act information related to any
submitted comments or materials.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the
online instructions for accessing the docket.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harry Weisinger, Railroad Safety
Specialist, FRA Motive Power & Equipment Division, telephone: 202-493-
0036, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), this document provides the public notice that by
letter dated August 12, 2025, LIRR petitioned FRA for a waiver of
compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety
regulations contained at 49 CFR part 229 (Railroad Locomotive Safety
Standards). FRA assigned the petition Docket Number FRA-2025-0588.
Specifically, LIRR seeks temporary relief from the deadline by
which to implement Sec. 229.136(a)(1,5) and (c)(1)(iii), Locomotive
image and audio recording devices, which requires recording systems to
include a device ``aimed parallel to the centerline of the tangent
track within the gauge on the front end of the locomotive;'' that notes
``an accurate time and date stamp on image recordings;'' and is
``capable of using ambient light in the cab'' and can ``automatically
switch to infrared or another operating mode'' if the light is too low.
In its petition, LIRR explains that although its locomotives have
included on-board image recorders for over a decade, LIRR ``cannot meet
the regulation's October 2027 deadline [for compliance] due to, among
other things, legally required procurement processes, work space and
workforce limitations, existing maintenance and regulatory
obligations[,]'' and potential disruptions to its sizeable commuter
service. LIRR proposes rolling deadlines from December 2028 to December
2030, and states that if LIRR is required to meet the October 2027
deadline, its service capacity will be cut by more than half, as a
significant percentage of its trains would be removed from service.
A copy of the petition, as well as any written communications
concerning the
[[Page 52137]]
petition, is available for review online at www.regulations.gov.
Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings
by submitting written views, data, or comments. FRA does not anticipate
scheduling a public hearing in connection with these proceedings since
the facts do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any interested party
desires an opportunity for oral comment and a public hearing, they
should notify FRA, in writing, before the end of the comment period and
specify the basis for their request.
Communications received by December 19, 2025 will be considered by
FRA before final action is taken. Comments received after that date
will be considered if practicable.
Privacy Act
Anyone can search the electronic form of any written communications
and comments received into any of FRA's dockets by the name of the
individual submitting the comment (or signing the document, if
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.).
Under 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to inform
its processes. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any
personal information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as
described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can
be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. See also https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice for the privacy notice of
regulations.gov.
Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2025-20287 Filed 11-18-25; 8:45 am]
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